1 6 Mr. G. Turnbull on Edin's Hall. 



erected by a people very little advanced in the arts. It is pro- 

 bable that they originated in a wall raised as a screen around 

 the fire of a family. In process of time, in order to afford pro- 

 tection from enemies, the wall would be increased in thickness 

 and height. When it reached so great a width as twelve or 

 fifteen feet, it would be natural to construct apartments within 

 it. The more massive of such structures would be appropriated 

 to chiefs ; and while they and their immediate dependents would 

 occupy the great stronghold, outhouses would be built for the 

 rest of their followers and for horses, cattle and other moveable 

 property. All these would of course be surrounded by trenches 

 and ramparts. Thus may be supposed to have arisen such 

 works as Edin's Hall. 



Residences of this kind are little suited to our modern ideas 

 of comfort ; yet it is not to be supposed that their inmates were 

 at all times exposed to the open sky. Sheds would probably be 

 erected within the enclosure, and if carried round the wall 

 would be open only towards the fire in the midst. Entering 

 from these sheds, the apartments in the wall would afford places 

 for retirement, rest and security*. 



It is curious to remark analogies between these and the 

 houses of more civilized nations. In the villas of the ancient 

 Romans, the principal hall (Atrium) may be described as an open 

 court surrounded by sheds, from which apartments entered; but 

 as a fire was not required, a tank (Impluvium) was formed in 

 the midst, which received the rain-water from the roof. 



The hovels of the inhabitants of northern climates, who have 

 made little progress in civilization, are derived from the same 

 primary model. A wall surrounds a fire, and a roof is con- 

 structed on this wall, with a hole in the centre of it for the 

 egress of the smoke. 



Origin of Edin's Hall. — No historical notice has been found 

 referring directly to Edin's Hall. Its origin and purpose, there- 

 fore, can be inferred only from circumstances. On this subject 

 many conjectures have been formed. Among others, are the 

 hypotheses that the building was a Druidical temple — a temple 

 of Woden, a temple of the god Terminus, a station for an army 

 of observation against the Danes, and a storehouse of provisions 

 for a chain of camps on the Lammermoors, formed to repel the 

 English and other enemies. Most of these conjectures are evi- 

 dently groundless, and it is needless to discuss any of them, if 



* If, as is said to have been the case in one of the descriptions of it, 

 there were at any time walls within the area of Edin's Hall concentric with 

 the great building, these may have been intended as supports for the roofs 

 of sheds. Of course these walls would have openings through them towards 

 the centre. 



